About Tom Gidley

Mysterious connections are implied in the work of Tom Gidley. The British artist stages objects and paintings in a way that creates relationships through juxtaposition, by pairing hazy portraits—either friends who have posed for him, or re-creations of historical artworks or archival photos—with crudely crafted ceramics. The undefined, or concealed narrative between the images and the objects gives Gidley’s sculptures a totemic quality, leading the artist to call them “future relics.” Meanwhile, the eerie intimacy of the portraits implies a window into the interior thoughts of their subjects, or a glimpse into an artist’s intention that may or may not really be there.